Tisbury, Massachusetts

Vineyard Haven is a community within the town of Tisbury, Massachusetts on the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 2,114 as of the 2010 census.The area was called "Nobnocket" by the Wampanoag people and was first referred to by the colonial settlers as "Homes Hole", "Homes" from a Wampanoag term for "old man" and "Hole" meaning a sheltered inlet. By the 19th century, it was more commonly spelled "Holmes Hole" after the descendants of John Holmes (1730–1812) who had settled in the village during the second half of the 18th century. The village officially changed its name to Vineyard Haven in 1871. The name Vineyard Haven technically refers only to one section of the town of Tisbury, but the names are used interchangeably and Vineyard Haven is commonly used as a title for the whole town. Vineyard Haven is the main port of entry to Martha's Vineyard and one of the three main population centers (with Edgartown and Oak Bluffs). The Steamship Authority wharf is located in Vineyard Haven where ferries arrive and depart year-round. (A second, seasonal wharf is located in neighboring Oak Bluffs.) The year-round population is only about 2,000 people, but that number increases tremendously in the summer.

The William Street Historic District is a historic district in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The district includes houses on William Street from Woodlawn Avenue in the north to several houses south of Camp Street. It represents the single best preserved area of mid 19th century houses in Vineyard Haven.

The Vineyard Playhouse is a professional, non-profit working theater company on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Housed in a historic building in downtown Vineyard Haven, MA, the theater produces shows year-round. It also hosts programs for children, and was described in the Vineyard Gazette as "the longest running professional theatre on the Island."

The Ritter House (also the Jirah Luce House) is an historic house on Beach Street in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, USA, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is one of the few remaining Federal period buildings in Vineyard Haven. It has had a succession of occupants and uses, and as of 2007 served as a retail establishment.

The Tashmoo Springs Pumping Station is a historic waterworks facility in Tisbury, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The pump station and associated works were first constructed by private interests in the 1880s to provide a reliable water supply for the burgeoning resort areas of Tisbury as well as the port of Vineyard Haven. The facilities were taken over by the town in the early 20th century, after which some alterations were made to accommodate technological improvements. Followinga series of hurricanes in the mid-20th century, which highlighted the risks of the station's location and ability to provide reliable drinking water, the town abandoned the facility. Since then it has been largely abandoned, although it was used in the 1990s by a bottled water interest, and some work has been done to preserve the Late Victorian main pumping station building.

West Chop is a residential area located in the town of Tisbury, Massachusetts on the north end of the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is a peninsula surrounded on the north and west by Vineyard Sound and on the east by Vineyard Haven Harbor. A lighthouse, West Chop Light, stands at the north end of the chop. It is accessible by car from Vineyard Haven by two roads, Franklin Street and Main Street. West Chop has no obvious commercial businesses or stores, it used to have its own zip code (02573) and a seasonal post office, but these were closed during cutbacks to the USPS. It also has a private seasonal country club, the West Chop Club, and a nine-hole golf course, Mink Meadows Golf Club. There is also a small graveyard, the West Chop cemetery. West Chop has been a popular summer resort area since the late 19th century, and has been the summer home to many notable residents, including Panama Canal engineer Gen. George W. Goethals, Yale president and U.K. ambassador Kingman Brewster Jr., United States Secretary of the Air Force James H. Douglas Jr., and composer George Chadwick.In the summer of 1888, a steamboat wharf was completed at West Chop with regular steamship landings from the mainland, and throughout the 1890s the West Chop summer colony boasted two hotels, a bowling alley, a billiard hall, and tennis courts., although today only the club's tennis courts and small private docks remain.

West Chop Light is a lighthouse station located at the entrance of Vineyard Haven Harbor in Tisbury, Massachusetts, on the northern tip of West Chop, a few miles from the village of Vineyard Haven.The first 25-foot (7.6 m) rubblestone lighthouse and dwelling were built on the bluffs of West Chop in 1817. Following constant erosion, the lighthouse was moved back in 1830, and again in 1846.The first lightkeeper was pilot James Shaw West who tended the light for thirty years, from 1818 to 1848. His pay was $350 a year. Subsequent lightkeepers were Charles West, 1849–1868; his son Charles P. West, 1869-c1909; George F. Dolby (1909–1919); James Yates (1919-?); and Octave Ponsart (1946–1956) Sam Fuller has also been mentioned as a lightkeeper.The present 45-foot (14 m) tall brick tower and dwelling were built in 1891. In 1976 West Chop Light became the last Martha's Vineyard lighthouse to be automated, but the original Fresnel lens is still in operation. The former lightkeeper's dwellings are now vacant but remains property of the U.S. Coast Guard and off limits to the public. The West Chop Light Station has been on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places since 1987.

Martha's Vineyard Hospital is a not-for-profit regional medical center located in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, it is the only hospital in Dukes County.

Martha's Vineyard Regional High School or MVRHS is a high school in Oak Bluffs on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, United States.

Martha's Vineyard Skatepark or MV Skatepark is a public skatepark located in the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

East Chop, also known as the Vineyard Highlands, is a residential area located in the town of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts on the north end of the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is a peninsula surrounded on the North and East by Vineyard Sound and on the West by Vineyard Haven Harbor, and features the high, prominent bluffs that gave Oak Bluffs its name. A lighthouse, East Chop Light, stands at the north end of the chop on Telegraph Hill. East Chop has no obvious commercial businesses or stores, although it has a private yacht and beach club, the East Chop Beach Club. East Chop became a popular summer resort in the late 19th century. A steamship wharf, known as Highland Landing or Highland Wharf, served regular ferry traffic from the mainland during the 1890s, and a horse railroad connected it to the village of Cottage City, later renamed Oak Bluffs. East Chop and the Highlands became a popular camp meeting gathering ground for Baptists, and church members erected a wooden tabernacle in 1877. The remains can still be seen in Temple Park.

Makonikey is a rural neighborhood on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, that lies on the border of Tisbury (also known as Vineyard Haven) and West Tisbury. The Tisbury section is called Lower Makonikey, and the West Tisbury section is called Upper Makonikey. The neighborhood lies between Lambert's Cove Road and the Vineyard Sound, near Makonikey Point. It is a 5- to 10-minute drive from the center of Vineyard Haven. The neighborhood is named after Makonikey point. It is referred to in 18th-century records variously as "Conaconaket" and "Nowconaca" and "Necorneca", corruptions of the Wampanoag term for "old land" or "ancient place." In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Makonikey was known for its grand hotel, long since torn down. Today the area is semi-rural, with houses generally located on lots of greater than 3 acres (12,000 m2). The general feeling is that of "Up Island" even though the location is right on the edge of "Down Island". The winding dirt roads through the woods can be quite confusing, and are not properly marked either on maps or GPS - many of the roads listed are in fact "paper" roads, and still forested. As a result, most residents have affixed signs to direct visitors and delivery people to their houses (car GPS and online mapping services have not historically accurately mapped the area, but Google Maps has recently been updated with an accurate map of the area). These signs are usually in the form of some local animal or object, and are still the easiest way of finding most of the houses. Like the majority of Martha's Vineyard housing stock, most of the houses in Makonikey are used as summer residences. Lower Makonikey has more year-round residents, and is considered one of the more desirable neighborhoods in Vineyard Haven, as the houses and lots tend to be larger than usual for that town, combined with waterviews and beach access (this is generally true of the neighborhoods in Vineyard Haven between Lamberts Cove Road and the Vineyard Sound, Northern Pines, Pilot Hill, and Lower Makonikey) Lower Makonikey and Upper Makonikey are the subject of 2 separate associations, the Lower Makonikey Corporation and the Upper Makonikey Trust. The associations' main duties are road and beach maintenance. Beach access is private, like many other beaches in Massachusetts.